Amusan cleared to compete in Olympics, CAS rejects doping charges

Tobi Amusan of Team Nigeria competes in the Women's 100m Hurdles Heats. GETTY IMAGES

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed the appeals filed by World Athletics and the World Anti-Doping Agency against the decision of the World Athletics Disciplinary Tribunal (WADT) of 17 August 2023 regarding Nigerian hurdler Tobi Amusan, who was found not to have committed an anti-doping violation and will be able to participate in the Paris Olympic Games.

Amusan set the world record of 12.12 seconds at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, in July 2022 and won the title. The Nigerian athlete was initially charged with an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) under Rule 2.4 following three alleged whereabouts violations within a 12-month period.

World Athletics’ anti-doping rules state that any athlete who fails to report his or her whereabouts for doping control on three occasions within a 12-month period will be banned from competition for two years.

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However, World Athletics and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Amusan was granted a provisional ban shortly before the World Championships in Budapest in August 2023, where she finished sixth in the 100m hurdles, and CAS was appealed to by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), which challenged a first instance decision of 17 August 2023 to lift the provisional ban.

In their respective appeals to CAS, World Athletics and WADA had requested that a two-year period of ineligibility be imposed. CAS held a hearing on 19 January 2024 and, after deliberation, issued its decision on Friday rejecting both appeals.

The CAS panel unanimously accepted that Amusan had committed two Filing Failures, but did not confirm the existence of a Missed Test alleged by World Athletics and WADA, which would have been the third Filing Failure committed within a 12-month period. Accordingly, the CAS panel concluded that Amusan had not committed an anti-doping rule violation and that the contested decision should be upheld.



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